Israel Adesanya’s head coach Eugene Bareman is hoping for a much longer, but similarly decisive outcome from his fighter’s first meeting with Robert Whittaker at UFC 271 this Saturday.
Whittaker and
Adesanya will be competing in the middleweight title at Houston’s Toyota Center. Whittaker was defeated by “The Last Stylebender”, who became the undisputed champion of UFC 243 when he beat Whittaker in round 2.
While Bareman would certainly not be upset if lightning struck twice in regards to getting a quick finish, the City Kickboxing head man would like Adesanya to put a stamp on the rivalry forever.
“People aren’t going to agree with me, but the ultimate thing you can do in fight sports, I think, is not a knockout, it’s a whitewash,” Bareman told Submission Radio. “What I would like to happen is just a five-round whitewash, where there is no stoppage this time, but like every round there’s just accumulative, accumulative, accumulative damage and it just leaves no doubt, it just leaves no doubt. It’s just 25 minutes of mastery.”
Bareman gave Whittaker a lot credit for fighting his way into a title fight and a rematch against Adesnaya. “The Reaper” responded to the KO loss with a trio of decision wins over Darren Till, Jared Cannonier and Kelvin Gastelum.
Officially, it’s not hard to argue with a competitor who wants to race it back against someone they have already defeated. In Bareman’s eyes, Adesanya is taking things very seriously.
“When you win in that fashion, yeah, that little complacency kind of devil that sits on your shoulder, you’re hyper-aware of it,” Bareman said. It’s important to avoid falling prey to this. It’s almost as if you push the limits because it is something that your conscience constantly reminds you of.
“So, in terms of like motivating him to kind of get up for this fight and train hard, it hasn’t been too difficult. We’ve really emphasized that Robert has more to give, that Robert has more to give, but we haven’t forgotten that Israel had a whole lot more to give as well. As Robert gives more, Israel has more to offer in this fight. So, this fight will be a bit more interesting.”
Adesanya won the title in 1990 and has successfully defended it since against Yoel Romaro, Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori. Adesanya fought in the second round at light heavyweight, where he challenged Jan Blachowicz (then champ UFC 259,), losing to him by unanimous decision. The wrestling and ground control of Blachowicz was the difference maker in the fight throughout the championship rounds.
On The MMA Hour , Whittaker stated that he believes Blachowicz might have provided the plan for beating the defending champion. Bareman might not buy that sentiment, but he certainly expects a much calmer challenger this Saturday night.
” I think they are a smart team,” Bareman said. “I studied them extensively for the first fight, and I quickly figured out that they’re an elite team, they’re a very smart team. Jan’s experience in Israel is not something they can duplicate. There’s little things you can take, but at the end of the day, you got to work with the athlete that you’ve got in front of you.
“And they understand that they don’t have a Jan in front of them. They’re just too intelligent to think like that. But yeah, I expect a little bit less panic and a little bit more respect from Robert. I expect him not to be so aggressive this time. That’s the only thing I can kind of take a good calculated guess at.”
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